Benz-Harris VP The debate is now having big consequences

President Trump’s hospitalization with the corona virus drew an extraordinary amount of attention to this week’s Vice Presidential debate, pressuring Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris to use the forum as president to reassure the public that they are ready and tense.

Mr. Trump’s dangerous viral diagnosis – and he’s 74 years old and his Democratic rival, Joseph R. Biden Jr., 77 – Mr. Benz or Mrs. It was a reminder that Harris could be president. Against the leading contenders for candidacy in 2024 and beyond.

Mr. According to Pence, Wednesday’s debate will force him to calculate the administration’s record of a virus that currently affects 7.4 million Americans – the country’s most protected man. Including Trump – and in response to his own maid as chairman of the Federal Corona Virus Task Force. For former lawyer Ms Harris, the debate is an opportunity to show her ability to be president in a national emergency, as well as to prove that she can challenge Trump’s record on the Govt-19. Sick President.

Mr. Depending on how quickly Trump recovers, his condition Mr. The remaining two debates between Trump and Mr Biden could be forced to cancel. If that happens, Wednesday’s 90-minute session will be the final debate of this presidential election season, and will be the last chance for both parties to command a large audience.

Last week Mr. This may be significant given Trump’s unbridled debating performance Changed voters in some key states Against him.

Rafael J. Snyder, managing director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at California State University in Los Angeles. Sonenshine said a discussion between the two comrades running in any other year would be a little more than “political back thinking.” Wednesday’s vice presidential race in Salt Lake City will be very different, with him running for the presidency “according to the age and influence of the candidates”.

Mrs. Mr. Harris, who was on the question board for the 2016 Senate debate. Sonenshine said, “The vice presidential debate is only going on.

Mr. Some questions have been raised about whether Benz should participate, given his revelations to a White House, that new positive tests are coming in day by day. Dr. Rochelle Valensky, an epidemiologist at Harvard University, said: “He was sitting in the ocean with people. “He has no way to go anywhere.”

Jason Miller, Mr Trump’s senior adviser, rejected Mr Pence’s suggestion that the debate at the University of Utah should be avoided. Mr. Pence has so far tested positive for the corona virus and two candidates Will be At 12-foot intervals, increase from the first seven feet proposed.

Mr. “I have no worries,” Mr Miller told the NBC show “Meet the Press” while discussing the security of Benz’s participation in the debate. “We are in a campaign. We have a month to go. We see Joe Biden and Kamala Harris campaigning there. ”

Vice Presidential contests in presidential elections are rarely determined, especially as they dominate the ballot just like Mr. Trump. But the debate is taking place in the midst of a crisis: a president admitted to a hospital infected with a virus that has already killed 200,000 Americans, and the severity of his illness, his prognosis and when – or if – he can return to the campaign trail. It is now a month before the election.

Polls conducted since the beginning of the summer Mr. Mr. Trump. Pita has pushed back and highlighted the importance of these types of mass attention-grabbing events.

Mr. Mr. Pence and Mrs. Harris. The rivalry between Trump and Mr Biden is now largely eclipsed. But for now, Mr. Benz will become the face of the campaign, while its permanent incumbent will remain out of public view.

Mr. Mr. for Trump. Jennifer Palmer, senior adviser to her 2016 Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and her co-coach, says Benz’s standing can work for the good of Democrats. , 2016 for Vice Presidential Debate.

“It’s hard to get a clean shot at delivering a direct message to the Biden-Harris ticket because Trump takes in so much oxygen,” he said. “They have to take every opportunity.”

Mr. Pence has some advantages. Mr. After four years on Trump’s side, he has a close experience with key policy and political challenges ahead of Wednesday, especially with regard to the virus and the economy. Mr. Pence conducted a similar debate in 2016, where he tested all the boxes of a talented No. 2 candidate: he was Mr.

In contrast, Ms Harris has been in Washington since 2017 and was sidelined as a Democrat in the Republican-controlled Senate. He appeared in the debates while running for senator and attorney general from California – Mr. Very small-scale affairs against less ambitious and talented opponents than Pence.

Mr. For Pence, this is a very different landscape from where he traveled in 2016. Mr. The epidemic has now spread through the White House and some Republicans about how Trump handled the Govt-19 crisis and how dangerous his own behavior was.

“It was square in the presidential debate, and it will be square in the table in the vice presidential debate because it comes to the forefront of everyone’s mind,” Mr. Cain said in an interview. “Because Pence was asked to take the lead. Now the president – who underestimated all science and said it was not a hoax or a big deal – has now been found.”

Mr. Pence will face an additional burden to make the most of this moment, with Mr. The chances of Biden changing his presence and race path are dwindling.

Mr. Pence, 61, is a former Indiana governor and has served 12 years in Congress. Ms Harris, 55, served as California’s attorney general and San Francisco district attorney before being elected to the Senate.

Both come up with different styles for this discussion. Mr. Pence, Mr. During his session and previous discussion with Cain, when he ran for governor of Indiana, he proved to be a quiet and disciplined person, agile and difficult, giving his easy buffer and being adept at attacking unexpectedly.

“People have a reason to question Hillary Clinton’s credibility – it’s because they pay attention,” he said. Mr. Pence. Said in his controversial discussion with Cain (at least by 2016 standards).

He speaks quickly, leaving a space between penalties for an opponent to go inside. “He was a very firm, gentle, organized debater,” said John D. Snyder, Ms. Clinton’s campaign leader. Podesta, said in 2016. “His experience taught him to be well-prepared by a radio presenter. He will be an opponent of Trump in this debate. This is the opposite of what you saw last Tuesday. ”

“He will come to you,” Mr. Said Podesta. “She is OK. He can go on the attack. It is very modulated and smooth. ”

Ms. Harris has proven to be an active and effective speaker as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Attorney General William B. Look, he raised his stakes with the Democrats by aggressively questioning other officials.

In a discussion, she may have faded and become formal, looking at notes written by a lecturer while waiting for her turn to speak, before going on the attack.

“Steve, I think you should not really go down to the dignity of this discussion or to the office we are looking for.” Ms. Harris said When Steve Cooley, the Los Angeles District Attorney and his opponent in the 2010 race for California Attorney General, was accused of failing to seek the death penalty in a murder case as a San Francisco District Attorney.

Recalling their meeting in 2010, Mr. Cooley said in an interview. Ms. Harris Mr. He asserted that his confession had been obtained through torture and that his confession had been obtained through torture. Resistance to the bus.

“He will be well scripted,” he said. “I don’t think she would do that if she came to an area that didn’t have a good script.”

Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders, called him a strong debater. “Because of his case background, he is as good at mastering the presentation as you are in a courtroom,” he said.

“He’s the best at crime,” Mr. Weaver added. “When he’s at fault, he gets better points than a defense.”

Mr. Even before Trump was hospitalized, Ms Harris’ debate on a vice president was fundamentally different from the primary contest because she had not only set her own record, but also Mr. Biden, Mr. Trump and Mr. Benz.

The Trump campaign has long sought to position Mr Biden as a “far leftist” and to elevate Ms Harris, the first black woman to serve as vice president, to become a real force in a biden white. House.

Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster, said the debate would attract more attention for both candidates. But in a campaign of such extraordinary shares, the question that defines the electorate is Mr. That is whether Trump deserves a second term.

“With so many things happening every day and every week, I think the Vice Presidential debate will be forgotten by the time election day rolls over,” he said.

Sydney Emperor and Donald G. McNeill Jr. contributed to the reporting.